Mark Shields, the deputy chief constable of the Jamaican police,
confirmed yesterday that the death on Sunday was being treated as
suspicious, while a cricket website cited unconfirmed reports of
marks around Woolmer's neck, suggesting he had been strangled.
Asked if it was murder, Mr Shields said: "No, we're not saying
that."

He said the autopsy was inconclusive. "But having met with the
pathologists and other medical personnel, there is sufficient
information to continue a full investigation into the circumstances
of Woolmer's death, which is now being treated as suspicious."

Woolmer, 58, died in hospital on Sunday after being found
unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston - the day after
Pakistan's humiliating defeat by Ireland wiped them out of the
World Cup.

A spokesman for the Pakistan Cricket Board, Pervez Mir, said:
"The police suspect that Woolmer may have been murdered." But he
added: "Obviously 'suspicious' could be anything at this moment -
it could be something serious, it could be something not serious.
We have a man who is down and we don't know the reason why."

Initial reports suggested a massive heart attack; one blamed a
mix of alcohol and prescription drugs. But amid swirling
speculation, the website DNAIndia.com said yesterday that Woolmer
might have been killed to cover up match-fixing. It quoted the
former Pakistani fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz, who told reporters on
Monday that certain players had helped fix the matches against the
West Indies and Ireland.

In 2004, when Nawaz made similar claims, Woolmer hit back and
denied his team was involved in corruption. But in a book Woolmer
was writing, Discovering Cricket, some say he was to expose
match-fixing in Pakistan, India and South Africa.

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